With the exponential rate at which technology is advancing, teachers are under more pressure than ever to innovate with their approach to teaching. As high-tech and exciting as they were when they first hit schools a decade ago, you now need more than an interactive whiteboard to say that you’re really pushing the boundaries of where education and technology meet.
Technology shouldn’t be a classroom gimmick; rather, it should augment and improve the way in which your students learn and process information. We think OneNote for schools fits this description perfectly, enhancing a teacher’s ability to do what they do best: teach.
By using OneNote as a whiteboard, students can review what they’ve learned in class again and again
To give you an idea of how agile OneNote can be, check out this Microsoft TechNet blog article that describes how a Maths teacher in New Zealand is using a OneNote whiteboard combination to record his lessons. OneNote captures whatever’s written on the whiteboard (in this case, a Surface Pro), as well as records audio of the lesson, meaning students can revisit what they’ve learned after the class has ended (here’s a recording of the class in question). But you don’t need an expensive interactive whiteboard to enjoy the benefits of OneNote Whiteboard. All you need is the app, an internet connection and a web browser.
OneNote is an incredible platform that encourages greater collaboration in learning
You don’t need a computer science degree or additional software to use the OneNote whiteboard effectively. If you create a whiteboard within OneNote, you can share it with anyone (students, colleagues) via Outlook—all they need is internet connectivity and a web browser to view what you’ve created. And with separate read and edit permissions (editors will need OneNote), you can choose exactly who can alter your whiteboard.
The app lets you add all kinds of media to your whiteboard, which can be updated anytime you choose
On the OneNote whiteboard you can insert pictures, text, films and embed videos, and it lets you access and draw from any online learning content. The app also lets you record audio and video —ideal for capturing lessons—and you can choose whether you draw, scribble or type. The built-in drawing function makes it a breeze to write on a digital board. Whatever you add to your whiteboard automatically syncs with the computers or devices of anyone you’ve shared the board with, so if you get home after school and want to add to lesson notes, you can do so. You can also use the app offline, and if you use the Microsoft Edge browser, it’s simple to send the print to OneNote.
Deeply integrated with Office365 and accessible through any web browser and across devices, our learning management tools work brilliantly with OneNote— helping you deliver a more engaging learning experience to your students. Learn more by signing up for our free OneNote webinar:
